this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025
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Mental Health

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How prevalent is the topic of mental health in America compared to Germany? (self.mentalhealth)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by wondering_mind to c/mentalhealth
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Hey there, I’m from Germany and have mental health issues such as depression and was wondering how prevalent this topic is in America.

Here in Germany this topic has become extremely normal and pretty much everyone seems to openly talk about it even with strangers sometimes. We have a lot of therapists but it’s often hard to get an appointment since medical care in Germany is free and they have overwhelming numbers of people and the therapists don’t have enough availability to accommodate everyone. The therapists I had so far were pretty good since they really seemed to care about me and often did overtime and such to talk.

I wonder if it’s similar in America that a lot of people go to therapy and openly talk about mental health. What is the situation in America like? Do you have many therapists (especially in rural areas) and how easy is it to get in/finance? Or would you say this topic is generally more frowned upon in America in comparison?

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[–] pdxfed 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Very common to talk about at work now, because everyone is exhausted, burt out or incredibly disengaged, but strangely still not common in social or family circles.

The medical industry aggressively denies, discourages and inhibits ease of care for all services because profit, and mental health care is no different. During the pandemic carriers were required to provide telehealth services for the first time and the carriers and their providers were completely swamped. Americans are overworked to the point of dying from it and don't have any time to drive to an appointment but video therapy sessions are quite possible for more people. Even getting an appointment, because you have to often go through a carrier network leaves you stuck with therapists who often might not be that compatible. Waitlists can be 3-6 months. So like everything else in america, it's "dealt with" at the emergency level (suicide hotlines, police 911, prison industry or funeral industry).

Employers are now advertising access to "work life balance apps" /gag like "Calm" as part of their mental health offerings as they know their actual medical care services are unavailable, unaffordable or both.

[–] wondering_mind 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Is life actually that much harder in America compared to other countries? I've watched a YouTuber who moved from Germany to America and he said Americans are working way much more and have less free time. Is that true?

[–] pdxfed 2 points 3 weeks ago

There is still no federal vacation required. Many employers offer it but pathetic number don't. The "good jobs" used to be salaried, but unregulated capitalism has pushed tons more work on them while cutting employee numbers, many of those jobs now work 10-12 hour days--and are then expected to be "always on" from laptop, phone, etc. no mental rest. Add in insanity of commuting and traffic and it's physically and mentally exhausting. Those are the good jobs. The federal minimum wage hasn't increased since 2009. It's currently way below poverty wages, so government approved poverty. As a result, many Americans work for companies who pay them poverty wages, take tax incentives for hiring "the poor". Government sponsored poverty because government long ago was captured by lobbiests for capitalists. On top of that, medical care is unattainable expensive.

I don't know if that means it's "harder" than in other countries, but even in poor countries there is less focus on work, more time off, social healthcare or better mixes of the above options. It's truly now the most raw, unbridled survival of the vicious countries now. And that was the case before the developments of the last few weeks and the next 4 years, which will exacerbate all of the above items.